Patent is one of the Intellectual Property Rights. The patent system plays an important role for encouraging invention, innovation, production, promoting industrial and commercial development. Hence, the patent system is very important for undertakings in the competitive business world. The European Internal Market is an area for free movement of goods, people, services and capitals. The EU Law prohibits that undertakings misuse their exclusive patent right to exclude the competition on the market and to disturb the free trade within the EU.
The various patent legal systems among the European countries result in not only disadvantages for the patent holders, but also more and more legal conflicts. Hence, a unique effective patent legal system is more important than ever. Therefore, the European Patent Convention of 1977 plays a key role for the patent protection in Europe. The EU patent is planed to create a unique patent procedure system before 2013 for solving the related legal issues of patent litigation in the EU.
The thesis focuses on the legal development of the European and international patent protection, integration of the patent protection among European countries, the character of the European Patent Organization and the operations of the European patent system. Finally, the thesis works on the impact of the free movement of goods on the European patent system with case study of the European Court of Justice. It concludes the meanings of the free movement of goods and development of the European patent system in the future.